Pall-bearer and luggage hook



(No Model.)

A. M., SCOTT.

:PALL BEARER AND LUGGAGE HOOK.

Patented Dec. 16, 1884.

llhtirrnn Starts ABNER ill. SCOTT,

Parent Unmet"...

OF CINCINNATI, OHIO.

iiiPliCiE'ICAZ'FEON forming part of Letters Patent No. SOQAOH, dated December 16, 188%.

Applicai ioniilcd July 5, 1884. (No model.)

To all whom, it may concern.-

Be it known that I, ABNER M. Seor'r, a resident of the city ofCincinnati, in the county of Hamilton and State of Ohio, have invented a certain new and useful Pall-Bearer and Luggage Hook, of which the following is a speeification.

The several features of my invention and the various advantages resulting from their use, conjointly or otherwise, will be apparent from the following description and claims.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 represents a device illustrative of my invention, and showing the device upon the left hand of the wearer and applied to one descrip tion of handle of an article to be carried. Fig. 2 represents a device illustrative of my invention with the strap or strip opened out, and Fig. 3 represents one of the various descriptions of hooks which may be used in connec tion with and as a part of my invention.

A indicates a loop, and B the hook. The loopA is made of a strip or strap of leather or other suitable flexible material, and that portion of the strip which bears upon and against the hand should be of a sufficient width as to not cut into the flesh or cause discomfort thereto. The book Bis secured in any suitable manner to the loop A.

The preferred mode of securing the loop A and the hook Bis by providing the hook with an eye, (3. An end of the loop is passed through the eye 0, and then bent back and sewed or riveted (preferably the latter) to the adjacent part of the same end of the strip. Thus that rod or part (Z of the hook which forms the upper side of the eye 0 is within the loop formed by the securing of the end of the strap aforesaid. Both of the ends of the loop may be permanently secured to the hook in a not easily detachable manner. One of the ends of the loop is, however, made, preferably, easily dotachable and adjustable, so that the size of the loop may at will be increased to fit a larger hand or decreased to fit a smaller one, and be easily and readily adjusted to the particular sized hand of the user. A convenient mode of attaining this adjustability of the size of the loop consists in attaching one end of the loop bucklcas, for illustration, the buckle c and tongue f shown in the drawings.

It may here be stated that when the device is made adjustable by such a buckle at one end of the loop the devices are usually made in pairs, one loop with its hook for the right hand and another loop with its hook for the left hand. The reason for having the device thus right or left handed is that the buckle, in order not to press into the flesh or muscles of the hand, should be located at that side of the loop which comes against the inner por tion of the heel or back side of the hand, and therefore in a device for the right hand the buckle must be located at one end of the loop, and in a device for the left hand the buckle must be located at the other end of the loop. Such an arrangement of the buckle on the loop is shown in Figs. 1 and 2, Fig. 1 showing the preferred position of the buckle in a loop intended for the left hand, and Fig. 2 showing the preferred position of the buckle in a loop intended for the right hand. The strap of which the loop is formed is preferably curved-that is to say, when one or both ends of the strap are unfastened and the strap is laid out flat the strap is curved at the side or sides in, as shown. The object of thus curving the strap is to adapt it to the configuration of the hand, and in consequence of being thus curved it will everywhere lie flat on the surface of the hand, and will therefore not cut or unduly press into the hand.

The hook B maybe of any desired material, and may be solid or of a skeleton or frame construction. Thus in Fig. 3 the hook is shown solid, and in Figs. 1 and 2 the hook is shown of askeleton construction. The skeleton form is preferred, and the preferred forms of skeleton construction are those where the hook and its eye are made out of a single piece of wire, and two hooks, gg, are present, located at a distance apart and parallel to each other. Such construction combines strength, facility, and economy of manufacture and extreme lightness.

The purpose of having two hooks, g g, at a distance apart is to afford all of the purchase which one broad fiat solid hook could give. In fact, more purchase is often given by the double limited skeleton hook, as this hook may bridge an excrescence or swell on a handle and be held more securely from slipping than where a broad solid fiat hook is employed. Furthermore, this description of hook is more elastic and accommodating than a solid one, and when the load to be carried bears or pulls more on one hook than on the other this hook will give a little, thereby cansing the weight to comemore evenly upon both hooks, and thus distributingthe strain more evenly between and on both ends of the loop, and preventing the weight of the load from pulling on one end of the loop, and thus drawing upon and straining one side of the hand or wrist.

In Fig. 2 the outer ends of hooks g are shown united by a cross-strip, h. In Fig. l the crossstrip h is omitted and the outer or free ends of the hooks g are not united. This latter constructionviz., that shown in Fig. 1is preferred, first, because it obviates all necessity of soldering together the free ends of the wire, and, secondly, because it allows the middle finger to be brought up at any time between the limbs or hooks g g and cooperate with the other fingers in bearing the load and relieving the weight upon the hook, and consequently upon the wrist.

When the character of the handle of the bag or other article which the hook is to engage is such that the metal of the hook will injure said handle, the hook may be padded, lined, or covered with a soft material.

The mode in which my invention is employed is as follows: WVhere the loop has a device whereby the size of the loop may be increased or diminished, the size of the loop is first adjusted to the size of the hand of the person who is to use it. The hand is then passed through the loop A, so that the hook B lies within the hand and the back or outer side of the curve of the hook is next to the fingers, and the curve of the hookcorresponds, essentially, with the curve of the fingers when partially closed. The upper part of the loop lies fiat upon the outside upper portion of the hand, next to the wrist. The wearer of the hook now hooks it onto the handle of the coffin, casket, satchel, basket, or other article to be lugged or carried. The advantages arising from the use of the hook are'then at once apparent. Among these advantages are the following: In carrying the load the hand is not as soon strained or fatigued as where the hook is not used. The hook may be made to carry the entire load. Whenever the person carrying the load desires, he can, without moving the hook, close his hand around the handle of the article to be carried and grasp the handle, so that the fingers and the hook shall conjointly aid to carry-the load. In this case the strain is divided between the fingers and the hand and wrist. When desired, the fingers may be more tightly closed, and take all or nearly all of the load, thus enabling the wrist to become quite rested. Thus at will the wrist may be made to carry the entire load, and the fingersslender or narrow, as in the case of bails of wire or cord or string or in the case of strings of heavy parcels. The hook prevents the handle, bail, wire, or string, 850., from cutting into or bruising the flesh of the fingers. The loop is disposed (as is evident to any one understanding human anatomy) so that it does not at any time interrupt the free circulation of blood in the hand.

Obviously my invention is of great service in assisting pall-bearers to carry without exhaustion or accident the coffin or casket containing the corpse. vious modifications, my invention is of great service to draymen in moving and handling heavy bales.

While the various features of my invention are preferably employed together, one or more of them may be employed without the remainder; and one or more of said features may, so far as applicable, be employed in connection with lifting devices other than that herein specifically specified.

What I claim as new and of my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. The loop adapted to fit on the hand, and provided with hook B, adapted to fit against the inner side of the hand, substantially as and for the purposes specified.

2. The loop A, adapted to embrace the hand,and provided with a hook, B, connected to said loop, the loop being provided with a device for enabling the size of the loop to be increased or diminished, substantially as and for the purposes specified.

3. The loop adapted to embrace the hand, and hook B, connected to said loop, one end of the loop being provided with buckle e and tongue f, substantially as and for the purposes specified.

4. A loop consisting ofa curved strip, as

So, also, with slight obat m, and connected to a hook, B, adapted to 7. In connection with loop A, a hook havm, tongue and buckle c the hooks having ing prongs or limbs g g and eye 0, substanlimbs g g and eye 0 substantially as and for IO tially as and for the purposes specified. the purposes specified. k

S. In connection with loop A a 11 ok hav- 3 {T A 5 ing prongs or limbs g g-and og e made of l AIAER SCOTT and in one piece of wire, substun lally as and Witnesses:

for the purposes specified. JNo. XV. STREHLI,

The combination of the curved loop A O. M. HILL. 

